Motorola took something away, and should give it back… quickly. Normally, software updates are a good thing. Some on T-Mobile however, may not be so happy with this latest one.

After posting our last article on the LG Leon, a $69 smartphone with LTE Band 12, we started getting reports from Moto E owners. They followed up on our mentions that the XT1527 T-Mobile/unlocked version of the device had LTE Band 12, whereas other Moto E variants did not.

It turns out that last month’s Android 5.1 upgrade actually removed LTE Band 12 from the phone’s radio firmware – and they are claiming it was at the behest of T-Mobile USA itself.

The reason, Motorola argues, is that the Moto E does not support VoLTE, and T-Mobile is only allowing VoLTE-capable phones to use LTE Band 12. T-Mobile, according to Motorola, argues that if a phone had a strong LTE Band 12 signal – but no UMTS or GSM signal, that the phone would hold onto the strong LTE Band 12 signal and not be able to make a phone call.

This is actually not isolated to Band 12. This happens quite a bit on non-VoLTE phones today with other LTE bands – and on CDMA/LTE hybrid carriers like Verizon Wireless and Sprint. If the phone only has an LTE signal, it may not make or receive a voice call if that secondary signal is out of range.

It appears T-Mobile is really concerned that someone in a rural area might see five bars of LTE signal, and think that their phone is capable of making/receiving calls, when it in fact isn’t.

Really though this is a terrible solution to the problem. First, consumers that were fine with this scenario have no way to opt-out. The neutering of this feature isn’t even in the update’s release notes – something required by law when removing functionality from a device.

Worse, this could easily be resolved by adding VoLTE. The second-generation Moto E is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 smartphone – and could easily handle the T-Mobile VoLTE stack. It appears this was a marketing decision to position the Moto E as a lower-cost device, and try to push VoLTE-interested consumers into more expensive devices. Indeed, under normal circumstances, devices like the LG Leon are more expensive than the second-gen Moto E on T-Mobile.

Considering that this very scenario that T-Mobile describes, happens thousands of times per day on other carriers – it’s specious at best that this rule should apply to Band 12, a band that will ideally save customers who are thinking of jumping ship due to poor coverage. And tech-savvy users can make VoIP calls through Skype and other services.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, this is a lame carrier move by T-Mobile, and one that an exception for the Moto E can, and should, be made for. Forcing users to hack their phone into downgrading to Android 5.0.2, is not an acceptable solution.

Motorola should either add T-Mobile VoLTE to the second-gen Moto E, or restore Band 12 functionality. And T-Mobile should not object to Band 12 being enabled on any capable device… ever.

Both T-Mobile USA and Motorola Mobility were provided copies of this article as it went to press. If they choose to respond, we’ll share their response with you here.

PhoneNews.com Staff articles are typically in-depth articles. These are articles that involve multiple, and at times, several staff members who each contribute to the hard-hitting coverage that we deliver here.